Rochester Hills, MI, Aug. 31, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2011 accolades continue to roll in for the Michigan-based online retailer, Aleva Stores.

Aleva Stores first found their name attached to Internet Retailer’s Second 500 List. They came in on the list at 601 and ranked 7^th overall in the Health/Beauty category.

"As a smaller niche retailer, we never imagined we would make the Internet Retailer list and were incredibly excited when we saw our ranking as the 7th largest online retailer in the health & beauty category," said Aleva Stores President, Derek Gaskins. 

"This is just fantastic! We love what we do and take great pride in every aspect of our business. We plan to continue providing our loyal customers with the best possible service and product assortment. Let's see if we can crack the top 500 next year! Stay tuned."

This is the first year Internet Retailer compiled a Second 500 Guide. According to Stefany Moore, Research Analyst for Internet Retailer, compiling the list took many months as they gathered info on the vendors through submissions and their own research. In the company of Aleva Stores in the Second 500 are businesses like Threadless.com, Godiva Chocolatier and other familiar names.

In addition to the Internet Retailer list, Aleva Stores also found itself on INC. Magazine's exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing businesses.

There, they found themselves ranked at 1821st. Their 144% three-year growth rate was good enough to find themselves in the top half of the list. They also ranked 84^th overall in the Retail category and 20^th overall in the Metro-Detroit region.

INC Magazine’s list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy - America’s independent entrepreneurs. The 2011 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2007 to 2010. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2007. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent -- not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies -- as of December 31, 2010

This year erupted into a big one for the online retailer with these two accolades, their move to a bigger warehouse, the launch of SocksAddict.com, RunningSocks.com, AthleticCompression.com and DocOrtho.com, and the addition of new employees.

"All of our employees have worked long and hard to make this a reality - many thanks to each and every one of them," said Gaskins. "I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do next year!"

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